Blake Layman made one very bad decision. He was 16, an unexceptional teenager growing up in a small Indiana town. He’d never been in trouble with the law, had a clean criminal record, had never owned or even held a gun.

That decision sparked a chain of events that would culminate with his arrest and trial for “felony murder”. The boy was unarmed, had pulled no trigger, killed no one. He was himself shot and injured in the incident while his friend standing beside him was also shot and killed. Yet Layman would go on to be found guilty by a jury of his peers and sentenced to 55 years in a maximum-security prison for a shooting that he did not carry out.

I don’t believe in angels, no. But I do have a wee parking angel. It’s on my dashboard and you wind it up. The wings flap and it’s supposed to give you a parking space. It’s worked so far. Billy Connolly That’s how it works? …Hmm.

Originally posted on Changing Journey:I consider today the official launch of Cactus Flower Naturals. Why? Haven’t I been promoting my shop for weeks now? Yes. But as of this weekend I have added the last of the products that I intended on launching my shop with. Oh, there are more products on the horizon….even…

Blake Layman made one very bad decision. He was 16, an unexceptional teenager growing up in a small Indiana town. He’d never been in trouble with the law, had a clean criminal record, had never owned or even held a gun.

That decision sparked a chain of events that would culminate with his arrest and trial for “felony murder”. The boy was unarmed, had pulled no trigger, killed no one. He was himself shot and injured in the incident while his friend standing beside him was also shot and killed. Yet Layman would go on to be found guilty by a jury of his peers and sentenced to 55 years in a maximum-security prison for a shooting that he did not carry out.

How Blake Layman got to be in the Kafkaesque position in which he now finds himself – facing the prospect of spending most of the rest of his life in a prison cell for a murder that he did not commit Continue reading →

Lived Long & Prospered

Leonard Nimoy lived up to his longtime catchphrase: Live long and prosper. Having achieved success in many arenas during his lifetime, the actor, director, writer and photographer has died at age 83. His wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, reportedly confirmed his death to the New York Times, saying the cause was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Most widely known for his performance as half-human, half-Vulcan science officer Spock on the classic sci-fi TV show “Star Trek” and its many subsequent film and videogame incarnations, Nimoy was also a successful director, helming “Star Trek” pics “The Search for Spock” and “The Voyage Home,” as well as non-“Star Trek” fare; an accomplished stage actor; a published writer and poet; and a noted photographer. He also dabbled in singing and songwriting.

But despite his varied talents, Nimoy will forever be linked with the logical Mr. Spock. Continue reading →

Trying to predict the future is a discouraging and hazardous occupation, because the prophet invariably falls between two stalls.

If his predictions sounds at all reasonable, you can be quite sure that in 20 or at most 50 years the progress of science and technology has made him seem ridiculously conservative.

On the other hand, if by some miracle a prophet could describe the future exactly as it was going to take place, his predictions would sound so absurd, so far fetched, that everybody would laugh him to scorn. This has proved to be true in the past, and it will undoubtably be true, even more so of the century to come.

The only thing we can be sure of about the future is that it will be absolutely fantastic.

I don’t believe in angels, no. But I do have a wee parking angel. It’s on my dashboard and you wind it up. The wings flap and it’s supposed to give you a parking space. It’s worked so far. Billy Connolly That’s how it works? …Hmm.

Originally posted on Changing Journey:I consider today the official launch of Cactus Flower Naturals. Why? Haven’t I been promoting my shop for weeks now? Yes. But as of this weekend I have added the last of the products that I intended on launching my shop with. Oh, there are more products on the horizon….even…

Ripped from the Headlines: Felony murder: Why a teenager who didn’t kill anyone faces 55 years in jail I was more than a little sad when I read this story. I wish I could say it surprised me but being a victim of tragic criminal justice myself I couldn’t let this one go without sharing. Please … Continue reading Ripped From the Headlines: Felony murder: why […]